Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan
is Toei's fifth entry to its Super Sentai series. It was originally broadcast from February 7, 1981-January 30, 1982 and is the only sentai to serve as a direct sequel to the one prior, Denshi Sentai Denziman. It was Toei’s last series with a Marvel copyright, but again with no Marvel involvement in the production. The theme was air, land, and sea. Development At the time it aired, Denziman was an exteremely popular series and Toei was stumped trying to figure out ways to build on it. At first Toei just thought of extending Denziman into a second year ala Gorenger, but that didn't work out for whatever reasons. Toei then tried to go for making a sequel and calling the show "Plasman" (which was basically just going to be the Denzimen with new suits), but that name was trademarked, so they finally settled on Sun Vulcan. The Denzimen were originally supposed to appear for a five episode arc, but it was too hard to get everyone back. The closest to a crossover the series had was the episode Himiko!, which featured the Sun Vulcan team defending a woman from the Denzi Star. Plot The threat of the Machine Empire Black Magma causes the EPDS (Earth Peace Defense Squad) to decide to establish the Solar Squadron at a summit. From the EPDS's air force, navy, and rangers, Commander Arashiyama assembles three specialists to become Sun Vulcan. Harsh training begins. Learning of this, Black Magma attacks the EPDS base, but the Sun Vulcan debuts in time to save it. Hell Saturn prays to the Black Solar God and is rewarded with a revived Queen Hedrian, now a cyborg with a mechanical heart and a metallic afro. But plot after plot of Black Magma, even with Hedrian's aid, fails. Following the death of 01, Amazon Killer, a Vader, arrives from space, destroying the Sun Vulcan Base. A new Vulcan Base is built. The original Vul-Eagle, Ryuusuke Oowashi, is replaced by a friend and master of the sword, Takayuki Hiba (who first appeared on episode 21). The team successfully defends the psychic descendant of the Denzi, the nun Himiko, from Black Magma. Shortly after this, Inazuma Ginga shows up. Sun Vulcan devises the New Vulcan Ball, but their attacks are no use against Inazuma Ginga until he becomes the gigantic Inazuma Monger. Finally, the trio and their commander go to the North Pole to rescue Arashiyama Misa, and succeed not only in doing so (despite a fake Misa to confuse them), but also in defeating the Omnipotent God, the true leader of Black Magma, by feigning surrender and striking when it lowers its guard. Characters Sun Vulcan Allies * Daizaburou Arashiyama * Misa Arashiyama * CC Machine Empire Black Magma * Führer Hell Saturn * Zero Girls * The Omnipotent God * Queen Hedrian * Amazon Killer * Inazuma Ginga * Dark Q * Machinemen * Hell Fighters * Black Magma Monsters Arsenal Mecha Episodes Songs *'Opening': Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan *'Ending 1': Wakasa wa Plasma *'Ending 2': 1 Tasu 2 Tasu Sun Vulcan *'Mecha (Sun Vulcan Robo)': Fight! Sun Vulcan Robo *Tatakai no Theme *Kimi wa Panther *Kagayake! Sun Vulcan *Super Women Zero Girls *Yume no Tsubasa wo *Umi ga Yonde Iru *Taiyou March *Bokura wa Sun Vulcan *Ashita ga Aru sa *Tatakau Nakama Sun Vulcan Cast * Ryusuke Ohwashi: * Takayuki Hiba: * Kinya Samejima: * Asao Hyou: * Daizaburo Arashiyama: * Misa Arashiyama: * Führer Hell Satan: Shōzō Iizuka (voice) * Queen Hedrian: Machiko Soga * Inazuma Gingar: Takeshi Watabe (voice); Jyunichi Haruta (body) * Zero One: Kitagawa Takako * Zero Two: Hikashi Mariko * Zero Three: Udagawa Yuki * Zero Four: Takashima Toshiko (1-4) and Hiro Kyoko (5-50) * Narration: Tōru Ōhira * Amazon Killer: Yukie Kagawa * Sun Vulcan Robo: Eiji Kanie Stage Shows * Sun Vulcan Stage Show at Super Hero Korakuen Yuenchi Notes *This series introduces the following firsts in Super Sentai: **The first to have a core team of less than 5 (3), followed by Abaranger (4). ***If you count the Goraigers as their own organization, then Hurricaneger is the only other series to match this feat. **The first and only season without a female ranger. **The first without a Green/Black or Pink Ranger. **The first where the team each possess control over an element. **The first to have a combining Robo, Sun Vulcan Robo. *This series has the following quirks that makes it unique among other Sentai Series: **The only one to be a direct sequel to the previous series (Denziman). **The only one where the core team is all-male, though at the time of this series, the three colors of Red, Blue and Yellow were always male whenever used. Because of the massive negative outpouring of a team without a female member, every season starting from Sun Vulcan's successor would have one after this. *Ryusuke Oowashi (the original VulEagle) was written off the script because his actor was a singer and had to leave to make a new record. *While the title does not suggest any of the traditional Sentai names, it actually is based on a pun that makes it work: the Japanese pronunciation for "Sun" is "San", which is the same as the Japanese word for "Three"; with this the three-man team of Sentai, the pun works perfectly, akin to the usage of "Go" in Sentai names such as Gorenger, and GoGo-V. *The villians in this series were called the Machine Empire Black Magma. They will share most of their name with the Machine Empire Baranoia and the Machine Empire, the villains of Choriki Sentai Ohranger and its adaptation Power Rangers Zeo, respectively. *This series was originally going to be called Plasmaman, and would have featured the Denzimen making cameos.http://risingsuntokusatsu.com/?p=1568 References Category:Sentai Season Category:Earth Technology * Category:Sentai Seasons that start with less than 5 Rangers